The invention relates to a combination tool in the form of scissors with two double levers connected to one another in an articulated fashion and having on one portion cooperating cutting edges and on the other portion the handles.
Tools are frequently designed in such a way that they can serve several purposes, for example, a combination pliers which can be used as tweezers and pliers at the same time. With the help of these tools, there is no need for the users to keep a whole supply of special tools. This is true for work shops as well as home use and also for the use of tool sets in automobiles.
Each year the accident statistics show an alarmingly high number of traffic victims and experts in analyzing accidents repeatedly point to the fact that many human lives could have been saved had emergency aid been given sooner. However, emergency aid is only possible when the injured person is outside his or her vehicle. Following an accident, with the passengers being trapped in their vehicles, they first of all have to be freed. Generally, there is no suitable tool for freeing them at the scene of the accident which would assure speedy and effective action.
With the present invention, this frequent problem concerning prompt emergency aid can be eliminated and, at the same time, the general need for a multiple purpose tool satisfied.
In order to solve the problem at hand, the invention provides a tool of the initially mentioned type in which the lever arms carrying the handles are formed together in a hammer head fashion and in which the lever arm carrying the opposed cutting edge has a longitudinal opening to receive the lever arm with the cutting edge and in which the lever arms have a closed rod cross-section when in a closed position. Thus, the same tool can be used as a scissors as well has a hammer. When used as a hammer, the lever arms carrying the cutting edge or the opposed cutting edges serve together as a hammer handle in the closed position of the combination tool, assuring secure and convenient handling. With the help of such a combination tool, the back, front and side windows in a vehicle can be broken without too much effort, for example, in the case of an accident and by an untrained person as well. Thus, a very important prerequisite is provided in that the persons who first arrive at the scene of an accident will have access to the inside of the vehicle. On the other hand, a person can also possibly free himself from a wrecked car. However, the combination tool is as efficiently used as scissors, for example, to rapidly cut off the seat belt by which a passenger might still be entrapped. This is particularly important in those instances when the passenger cannot reach the lock of the belt or the lock is jammed.
Based on these general basic concepts of the invention, it further provides for the hammer head, consisting of the handles, to have on the side of the one lever arm a pointed and on the side of the other lever arm a rounded outer profile. The design of the hammer head assures that the combination tool has great flexibility and that it can be used in an optimal fashion. It is therefore possible to easily break the window of a vehicle by first making a hole in the window with the pointed outer profile of the hammer head and then breaking it out with the rounded outer profile of the hammer head.
In an additional embodiment of the invention, the lever arm forming the hammer head is flattened laterally, perpendicular to the articulated axis of the double lever. The flattened hammer head is easier to handle, compared to conventional hammers, when the combination tool is to be used as a lever, for example, to pry open jammed doors. Depending on the situation at hand, the hammer handle can be used as a lever in order to first widen a door slit a bit and then to finally open the door completely.
It has been shown to be particularly advantageous that the lever arms forming the handle have material thickenings, increasing the volume. Through this increase of the specific weight of the hammer head, the effectiveness of the combination tool as a hammer is markedly improved. With little effort, a relatively good effect can be achieved which is of particular importance since those persons using the combination tool under such circumstances might be in shock or even injured themselves.
The invention further provides for the lever arm forming one of the handles to have an approximately circular opening for the thumb and for the other to have a longitudinal opening for the other fingers of the hand. In this embodiment of the combination tool according to the invention a compromise has to be found between two equally justifiable demands on the tool. On the one hand, it has to be convenient to use as scissors and by a corresponding design of the opening, assure an optimal power transmission from the hand of the user to the cutting edges of the scissors. This is particularly important, since the seat belt which might still be strapped around the passenger and which is made of a very strong material will have to be cut very quickly in the case of an accident. On the other hand, the openings for the fingers should not be too large, unduly reducing the volume of the hammer head and causing the tool to lose some of its effectiveness when being used as a hammer.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the lever arm carrying the opposed cutting edge can be approximately U-shaped in cross-section with the one U-shaped handle portion being shorter than the other, and with the cutting edge of the other lever arm engaging into the interspace between the two U-shaped handle portions with the front end of the shorter U-shaped portion serving as contact point for a cross-bar of the other lever arm, the cross-bar running next to the cutting edge. In this way, the cutting edges of the scissors result in a massive profile for the hammer handle, assuring an effective power transmission when the combination tool is being used as a hammer. By means of the contact points of the cutting edges these firmly support one another. This is particularly important with respect to the required handiness and optimal power transmission of the tool of the invention.
In an additional embodiment of the invention, the lever arms carrying the cutting edges have a circular to oval cross-section and the lever arm carrying the cutting edges occupies approximately one-fourth of this cross-section, the cutting edge being approximately triangular in cross-section and disposed in the cross-section. The lever arms can, of course, also have a polygonal cross-sectional area. It has to be assured that the combination tool in the invention is convenient to use whether as a hammer or as a scissors.
Additional characteristics, details and advantages of the invention can be seen from the following description of an embodiment of the invention as well as from the drawings.